American Society for Composites (February 2017) Solvay Student Paper Award for Composite Processing for the American Society for Composites (ASC) Annual Conference Background The American Society for Composites (ASC) Annual Technical Conference has for many years provided a communication forum for the engineering and scientific community in composite materials and promoted the growth of knowledge from interdisciplinary engineering and scientific research in composite materials. This conference provides excellent opportunities for younger researchers, in particular university students, to present their research. Student presentations of their research provide an opportunity to interact with students and researchers from other universities, researchers from government laboratories, private industry, ASC Members and Fellows, and other technical experts. It provides the students with a forum of knowledgeable technical critique and opens the door for productive social and technical dialogue. Such discussions are the foundation for the development of new ideas, new understanding, and knowledge. University students represent the next generation of practicing engineers, university professors, authorities in the technology areas of their graduate studies, and leaders of our country. The ASC encourages the professional development of university engineering students by their participation at technical conferences. To that end, the ASC proposes the establishment of a new student paper award entitled Solvay Student Paper Award for Composite Processing to be presented annually at the ASC Conference. Award Specifics The Award shall consist of $500 cash, a certificate identifying the name of the Award and the Award winner, and date of the award. The Award winner will be announced at the Conference Awards Banquet the year in which the paper is presented. The $500 cash award will be contributed by Solvay on an annual basis Eligibility 1. Only composite processing related papers are eligible for this competition. 2. The first author and presenter has to be an undergraduate or graduate student in an engineering program at the time of the first abstract submission deadline. Post-doctoral researchers and other research staff will not be considered 3. No extensions will be given for the submission of the paper beyond the final conference paper submission deadline. 4. A limit of two secondary authors (a total of three authors) will be allowed to insure that the student first author has contributed significantly to the research. Selection of the Recipient of the Award Selection of the Solvay Student Paper Award for Composite Processing will be included as part of overall awards selection process administered by the ASC Awards Committee Chairperson. The highest ranking eligible student paper, based on the quality of the paper and the student s presentation, will be awarded the Solvay Student Paper Award for Composite Processing. The following procedure will be employed to determine the award recipient:
1. Student abstracts are to be submitted, reviewed, and accepted or rejected through the procedures identified in the Call for Abstracts that are used for all abstracts submitted for the conference. 2. Of the accepted abstracts, all abstracts submitted with a student first author and processing related will be identified. 3. The ASC Awards Committee Chairperson in coordination with a Solvay Representative and the Conference Chairperson will appoint a Student Paper Selection Committee. The Awards Committee Chairperson may appoint a Chairperson for the Student Paper Selection Committee. 4. Before the conference, the Selection Committee will review and score the Student Paper manuscripts and select a manageable number of papers for oral presentations. Once the selection is completed, conference chairperson may organize a special session for the student papers and inform the students that they are being selected as the semifinalists for the Solvay award. 5. During the conference, the Selection Committee will attend, review and score the oral presentations. 6. The members of the committee will combine their evaluation of the manuscript and the oral presentations to select the recipient of the award before the conference award dinner. 7. If in the opinion of the Selection Committee there is no paper worthy of the award, the award does not have to be given. Selection Guidelines The papers should be judged on both the written manuscript and the oral presentation. Sample evaluation sheets for the oral presentation and written manuscript and their relative merits are included. Paper 1 - The papers should be judged on the clarity and conciseness of the statement of the objectives of the work and the clarity and conciseness of the statement of the approaches, procedures, and methodologies for achieving these objectives. 2 - A summary of important conclusions should be included, and these should be substantiated. The significance of the findings, how they contribute to the state of the art, and how they relate to the work of other investigators should be easily determined from the writing. 3- Effective use of tables and figures, and ease of understanding them, including units, dimensions, legends, labels, symbol and line types and colors, font sizes, etc., should be evaluated. 4 - Effective use of section and subsection titles can enhance a paper s organization and should be considered. 5. It should go without saying, but the paper should clearly be in the area of polymeric composite materials processing. Presentation 1 The oral presentation should also be judged on points 1-3 above, but within the context of what the audience is looking at, i.e., are the PowerPoint frames, movies, etc. too crowded, too difficult to read, not relevant to the point of the paper, etc. 2 The degree with which the presenter makes eye contact with the audience should be judged. 3 Effective use of a pointer or some other such device should be evaluated. 4 The response to questions from the audience or co-chairs should be appraised, i.e., did the presenter answer the question asked, was the answer clear, concise, and to the point? Overall The technical merit of the work is, of course, very important, and all of the above criteria should be considered in that context.
Call for Papers Announcement and Submission of Abstracts The announcement for the Solvay Student Paper Award for Composite Processing will be included in the ASC Annual Technical Conference Call for Papers and other avenues of communication. The announcement will include any specific instructions and identify key milestones and dates for consideration of the award. The papers to be considered for the award will be submitted just as any other papers for the conference is submitted. To be assured that the paper will be considered for the award, when the paper is submitted, just above the title of the paper the text Student Paper should be included in bold font.
ORAL PRESENTATION EVALUATION FORM Solvay Student Paper Award for Composite Processing Student Papers Competition Name of the Speaker: Paper Title: INTRODUCTION: The research question and specific objectives were clearly stated... (low) 1 2 3 (high) METHODS, RESULTS & TECHNICAL CONTENT The methods were clearly outlined/explained... (low) 1 2 3 (high) The technical content of the research was adequately demonstrated... (low) 1 2 3 (high) The results were clearly explained and significant results were highlighted.(low) 1 2 3 (high) CONCLUSIONS A review/summary of the project was presented...(low) 1 2 3 (high) The significance of the results and applicability was discussed (low) 1 2 3 (high) PRESENTATION STYLE Presentation aids were clear and readable (low) 1 2 3 (high) Presentation fit into the allotted time....(low) 1 2 3 (high) The student exhibited appropriate voice projection and eye contact (low) 1 2 3 (high) The student responded well to questions from the audience.....(low) 1 2 3 (high) Total Points. Max. 30 Evaluator s Name: Comments:
WRITTEN PAPER EVALUATION FORM Solvay Student Paper Award for Composite Processing Student Papers Competition Name of the Student: Paper Title: Evaluator s Name (I.) Numerical Score: Please write your evaluation score in Column (b) for each of the 4 criteria: Evaluation Criteria (a) Score (b) Weight (c) 1. Originality (Max. 15) 25% 2. Technical Content & Quality (Max. 15) 25% 3. Relevance of Contribution (Max. 15) 25% 4. Organization and Clarity (Max.15) 25% TOTAL Points (Max. 60) -------- (II) Written Comments: Please give your written comments on the above criteria based on your evaluation of the paper.